Arjun didn't sit down.
He stood in the middle of his room, phone in his hand, staring at the photo like it might change if he looked long enough.
Riya.
Vikram.
The bus terminal lights glowing behind them.
Too close.
Too familiar.
It wasn't the kind of closeness you have with someone you're saying goodbye to.
His first reaction surprised him.
It wasn't anger.
It was tiredness.
A deep, bone-heavy tiredness that made his shoulders drop and his jaw loosen. Like something he had been carrying for days had finally fallen to the floor.
He locked the phone and placed it on the table gently.
No dramatic throw.
No pacing.
No shouting into empty space.
Just silence.
The fan hummed above him. Outside, someone laughed. A bike passed. Life kept moving.
Arjun sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his face slowly.
He thought about the last few weeks.
Riya saying I'll tell you later.
Riya turning her phone face down.
Riya standing between him and Vikram, unsure which side to face.
He had kept explaining himself.
Kept asking.
Kept giving space where honesty should have been.
He picked up the phone again.
A message from Riya blinked on the screen.
He's leaving tonight. I swear.
Arjun read it once.
Then again.
Then he put the phone face down.
For the first time, he didn't feel the urge to reply.
Sleep didn't come easily, but when it did, it was heavy and dreamless.
No memories.
No faces.
Just darkness.
The next morning, Arjun woke up before the alarm.
The room felt different.
Not lighter.
Just… quieter.
He checked his phone.
Five missed calls.
All from Riya.
Three messages.
Please talk to me.
I'm scared I've lost you.
Don't do this silence thing. It hurts.
He stared at the messages while brushing his teeth.
The words didn't hurt the way they used to.
That scared him more than anything else.
At work, Sameer noticed immediately.
"You look… calm," Sameer said, frowning. "That's not a good sign."
Arjun dropped his bag and sat down. "I'm done talking."
Sameer leaned closer. "What happened?"
Arjun hesitated for a moment, then showed him the photo.
Sameer stared at it for a long time.
"That's recent," he said.
"Five minutes before she told me he was leaving," Arjun replied.
Sameer exhaled slowly. "Okay. That's bad."
"I'm not angry," Arjun said. "I'm just… clear."
Sameer nodded. "That's worse for her."
Arjun didn't smile.
Around noon, the unknown number texted again.
Unknown:
You didn't reply.
Arjun stared at the screen.
Arjun:
There's nothing left to say.
A pause.
Then:
Unknown:
That's when things actually start changing.
Arjun didn't respond.
For once, he didn't want information.
He didn't want proof.
He didn't want explanations.
He wanted distance.
Riya showed up in the evening.
Again.
Arjun was halfway down the stairs when he saw her standing near the gate.
She looked exhausted. Hair messy. Eyes swollen.
She looked like someone who hadn't slept.
"Arjun," she said the moment she saw him. "Please."
He stopped a few steps away.
"What?" he asked calmly.
That calmness shook her.
"You're not even angry," she said. "Say something. Yell if you want."
He shook his head. "I don't want to yell."
"Then talk," she said, voice cracking. "You're scaring me."
He looked at her.
"I saw the photo," he said.
Her face went pale.
"That wasn't—"
He raised a hand gently. "I'm not here to hear explanations."
She took a step forward. "I didn't lie about him leaving."
"You lied about how close you still are," Arjun said. "You lied by omission. You lied every time you chose not to tell me something you knew would hurt."
Tears spilled down her cheeks. "I was confused."
"Confusion is something you work through," he said. "Not something you drag another person into."
She shook her head. "You don't understand."
He nodded. "That's the point. I shouldn't have to."
She reached for his hand.
He stepped back.
That movement broke something in her.
"So what now?" she asked.
Arjun looked at her for a long second.
"Now," he said, "I stop explaining why this hurts."
She stared at him. "You're leaving?"
"I'm choosing myself," he said.
She sobbed openly now. "I never chose him over you."
Arjun met her eyes.
"You chose yourself over honesty," he said. "And that choice included him."
That was the truth.
She didn't argue after that.
That night, Arjun blocked the unknown number.
He blocked Vikram's profile when he found it.
He didn't block Riya.
Not yet.
He wanted her to see the silence.
Days passed.
Three.
Then four.
Riya sent messages every day.
Short ones.
Long ones.
Voice notes he didn't open.
Sameer stopped asking questions.
At work, Arjun focused harder than he ever had.
Something inside him had shifted.
On the fifth day, Riya sent one last message.
I'm leaving the city for a while.
Arjun read it once.
He didn't reply.
That evening, the unknown number texted again.
From a different number.
Unknown:
You think this ends when she leaves?
Arjun frowned.
Arjun:
Stop.
A pause.
Then:
Unknown:
You deserve to know what you were almost pulled into.
Arjun closed his eyes.
Arjun:
I don't want to know.
The reply came slower this time.
Unknown:
That's what I said too.
Arjun stared at the message.
For the first time, he wondered—
Who was this person really?
Later that night, Arjun got a call.
From Riya.
He let it ring.
Then it stopped.
A minute later, a voice note arrived.
He almost deleted it.
Almost.
He pressed play.
Her voice was shaky.
"I don't know if you'll ever listen to this. I just want you to know… Vikram isn't the only thing I didn't tell you. There's more. And if you hear it from someone else, it'll be worse. I'm sorry. I should've been honest earlier."
The voice note ended.
Arjun sat there, phone in his hand.
There's more.
Those words echoed.
He felt the familiar weight return.
Not pain.
Expectation.
Episode 5 – END TWIST (English)
Arjun's phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
Unknown:
She's right.
Arjun's breath caught.
Unknown:
There is more.
And tomorrow, you won't hear it from her.
Arjun stared at the screen.
Because he realized something that night—
The silence he chose wasn't the end of the story.
It was just the point where someone else decided to speak.
[End of Episode 5]
If someone hides the truth "to protect you," is that still a lie… or is it justified? What do you think?